Junta (governing body)

Junta (/ˈhʊntə/ ^ⓘ or /ˈdʒʌntə/) is a Spanish, Portuguese and Italian (giunta) term for a civil deliberative or administrative council. In English, the term, even when used alone, generally refers to a "military junta", the government of an authoritarian state run by high-ranking officers of a military. The literal meaning of the word derives from juntar (to join); a group of people with a common purpose.

In Italy, a giunta is the civil executive of regions (see Regions of Italy#Institutions) and of municipalities (comune, see Comune#Importance and function). In Spain, the term refers to various historical and current governing institutions of a particular territory or occasion.

In English the now-obsolete term "junto", derived from the Spanish "junta", was used without authoritarian connotation, first attested from 1641; the Whig Junto was a political faction in early 18th-century Britain.

The term is not related to the Sanskrit word Janatā (also transliterated as Jantā and Juntā), which refers to the public/people/masses.